Timothy Taylor

Agnes Martin (1912–2004) is one of America’s foremost abstract painters. Although frequently labelled as a Minimalist and closely affiliated with artists such as Donald Judd and Carl Andre, Martin always described herself as an Abstract Expressionist. As a young painter in New York during the 1950s, the influences of Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman proved particularly important to Martin. She similarly rejected recognisable forms, and strived to represent infinite space in a quest for the sublime.

Martin’s concern for conveying emotional content rather than ideas, and belief in the truth of unfettered inspiration over intellectualism set Martin apart from her contemporaries. The qualities of beauty and perfection evident in Martin’s paintings bear testimony to the artist’s spiritualism and disciplined approach to life. Famously claiming that she ‘painted with her back to world’, Martin refused to acknowledge the impact of any given environment upon her work. Nonetheless, the landscape of New Mexico is effectively conjured in the shimmering horizontal bands of ochres, pinks and myriad blues Martin began using following her move South in the 1970s.

Born in Maklin, Saskatchewan, Canada in 1912, Martin studied at Western Washington College of Education, Bellingham, WA, prior to receiving her B.S. in 1942 from Teachers College, Columbia University. Since her first solo exhibition in 1958, Agnes Martin has been the subject of over 80 exhibitions, including Agnes Martin, The Distillation of Colour, Pace Gallery, London (2021); Agnes Martin, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2016); Agnes Martin, Tate Modern, London (2015); Agnes Martin, Kettle's Yard, Cambridge (2010); Agnes Martin, A Field of Vision: Paintings From The 1980s, Dia Beacon, New York (2006); Agnes Martin: The Nineties and Beyond, The Menil Collection, Houston (2002); Agnes Martin: Paintings and Drawings 1974-1990, organised by the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, with subsequent venues in France and Germany (1991-92); Agnes Martin, organised by Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, travelling to Milwaukee, Miami, Houston and Madrid (1992-94). In June 2002 The Harwood Museum of Art at the University of New Mexico, Taos, organised Agnes Martin Paintings from 2001, honouring Martin on the occasion of her 90th birthday. Previous group exhibitions include Documenta, Kassel, Germany (1972), the Venice Biennale (1976, 1980, 1997), and the Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial (1977, 1995). Agnes Martin died in Taos, New Mexico in 2004.